6 Months!

I know it's so cliche, but boy, does time fly!! WOW! Ok, our baby girl is 6 months old and is as cute as ever! We are thoroughly enjoying being with her and watch her personality blossom. She is always bringing a smile to our faces and more often than not, laughter. Her Dr's visit isn't until the end of the month, so I don't have her stats.

Daddy's little girl

She is all smiles! She is playing with a rattle that was mine. Thank you Grandma for keeping these. She loves them!

Milestones:

• She enjoys standing at the coffee table by herself. She loves to play with everything on the table and push it off. She is pretty strong and can stay there for quite awhile. 
• She can sit up on her own. She still leans forward a bit, but she can stay sitting up without help. 
• She can pull her knees under her and get in the crawl pose for a few seconds, but then she gets tired. She is learning so fast =0)
• When I am driving with her I like to sing Primary songs. The other day I was singing "Give Said the Little Stream" and she started singing in her own little way. It was so cute! It was more than just her jabbering. She was really trying to sing. 
• She can hold the bottle and feed herself on her own, pulling the nipple away, then putting it back in. But she has to be in the mood for it. 
• She is eating 8 oz. of formula about four times a day, and sweet potatoes and apples twice a day. She LOVES the sweet potatoes. And she deals with the apples. We will start introducing other foods too.
• She knows when bed time is, and she even gets fussy until we lie her down. As soon as we cover her with a blanket she smiles, pulls the blanket over her head and rolls to her side (usually left). I always check on her later to pull the blanket down. However later in the night she will usually have her blanket up over her face again. I do worry about it suffocating her. She is also flipping over to sleep on her tummy more. Which makes me and Joe worry because some of the time we catch her face planted down on the mattress. But what can you do?
• She is trying to attempt to clap her hands. She really enjoys watching her hands and feet. They are the best toys ever.
•  Her is is growing, slowly but surely. I think it will remain brown like her daddy's. I can't wait until it grows and I can braid it. 
• She really enjoys watching Silky. I think when she gets older they will be good friends.

Trying on a headband that mommy made for the Fourth of July. She doesn't necessarily hate them, but they always seem to end up over her eyes. Poor girl has to put up with me wanting to cute things.

Tuckered out with a day of fun.  I don't know what we will do when she exceeds the weight limit on this thing. We only use it once a day for a half an hour, unless she falls asleep in it. But there are times that she just LOVES it.

On her 6 Month, June 17th, just before bed time...don't mind the crazy socks! LOL, I am behind on laundry.

Gratitude!!

I just wanted to say how GRATEFUL I am right now. I reflect back on my life and there have been many moments of happiness, as well as times of sadness. And I would have to say the The Book of Mormon speaks perfectly of how I feel right now (I am keeping in mind that things can change any minute! and I will regret saying this...oh, by the way.... the next day that I posted Addie slept 4 weeks in a row through the night....she woke up 4 times. Yes, I jinxed myself! And not only that, but we had 2 weeks in a row of 3-4 times of waking up in the night, 2 weeks in a row of 2-3 times a night. Poor little girl got really sick with a bad cough, chest cold, and stuffy nose. But finally this weekend she is feeling better, and is sleeping in again so far.)

2 Nephi 2:11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

I am still learning this principle, and I suppose will keep learning it. But for now, I can honestly say that "I'm on the top of the world lookin' down on creation. And the only explanation I can find, Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around. Your love's put me at the top of the world". (The Carpenters) 

And this can be sung about my sweet baby girl that has brought so much depth into my life. Who could have imagined I would love a soul so much. I saw that love between a parent and a child, but now I have felt it. And it's truly amazing!! 

I could also sing this about my wonderful hubby who is incredible. He is so patient, kind, loving, and fun. Once again, I never knew what true love was. I have seen it between spouses at times, but now I have felt it. And it's truly amazing!!

And I could also sing this about so many people in my life. But right now I am thinking about my Heavenly Father and Savior. Truly, can any of this be without Them? Would we ever feel the depth of gratitude for forgiveness, or feel the magical hope of eternity without them? The gospel brings so much depth, color, and meaning to life. And when things are bad, we can always remember the promise of better things to come. And though there are times that I am not paying attention to my blessings, or just being ungrateful, I have continued to feel Their love in my life. And that is truly amazing!!

Life is great, life is good, life is a miracle. May you all feel "On Top of the World" frequently!!

LOVE YOU!

Addie is 5 months old...

Our baby girl is growing and so is her fun! Adaline seems like she is always smiling, squealing, and jabbering all of the time. She is so fun to watch. She is precious and we are so grateful to have her in our home. Even when she is sick and not feeling well, she is easy to please and smiles often.

She loves playing with her feet. Often we find her socks pulled off, thrown all over or she is chewing on them. What a character

I just love this pose with the her whole face breaking into a smile. What a happy girl!!

Her Stats for this month:
*Length: 27.5 in
*Weight: 17 lbs 9 oz

Milestones:

• We tried some rice cereal for the first time. She seemed to enjoy it. She opened her mouth wide and swallowed some. But two nights in a row she acted like she had colic again, so we decided to take a couple of weeks off and try again. 
• The weekend she turned 5 months, she started to roll across the floor until she ran into the couch. She is pretty proud of herself too! She often looks over at us to see if we are paying attention, and when we do cheer and clap our hands for her, she gives us big excited smiles and giggles in return
• She has been practicing the word "Ga". I know that sounds silly to write down, but you can see her concentrating on the sound and how it feels in her throat. 
• She can stand at a table and play with toys, as long as someone is there to hold her steady. She loves to stand up. It's hard to get her to practice sitting up because once you hold her hands to guide her up, she wants to go all the way. So we are practicing on that more, and crawling.
• We bought "The Hungry Caterpillar" and she actually looked at the pictures. And she played with the pages. In the past I always just read to her while she was in the bath, or on the changing table. So it was fun to have her in my lap and have her interact.
• I am not sure, but I think she is trying to give me kisses sometimes. We will be playing, squealing and having so much fun and I will give her a bunch of kisses. Then she will lean forward with mouth open wide and touch my mouth or cheek with her mouth. It's sweet. So whether it's an actual kiss or not, I love it! 
• Joe has found that she is trying to make him laugh. He can make some noises that sounds like "Roger Rabbit". And it makes her break out into giggles. Well now he has noticed she tries to do something similar, and so he laughs and this makes her so happy. So she will do it again. 

We've been trying to do evening walks when I get home from work. It helps her take that nap just before dinner and bedtime. These hot shades were given by Aunt Kathy. They have Tinker Bell on them, cute. And the hat we got for our Hebdon Family Reunion in Bear Lake to protect her from the sun. Look at that sass ;0)

Mother's Day weekend. I was trying to show my family the new rash on her face when she started to get sick, and she just kept smiling. Made me laugh because I was just trying to get a shot of the spots. She already know what to do with the camera.

I love the color of her eyes. They are a dark blue, like my mom's. And she is wearing a cute pink headband Aunt Stephanie gave her. So sweet =0)

I can't get enough of her sleeping shots. She is so adorable! It's so hard to put her down! This is also when she was sick, poor little girl! We are praying for a healthy fun summer.

Her hair is starting to come in again. But it is still pretty sparse. We can't quite decide if she will stay brown or if it's turning lighter.

Joe's Graduation!! He's a Registered Radiology Techonologist!!

The long awaited day finally approached! And all three of us were excited!! After having to complete 1170 clinical  hours (many of those commuting 1.5 hrs one way), along with full time classes, we were so ready to be DONE. But it has been a fantastic experience. And now Joe has a career that he can honestly say he enjoys. That was so important to me when we were discussing his schooling. I just wanted him to have a job that he loved and didn't dread going to work for. I have heard of so many people hating their job and dreading to go to work. I can't imagine doing 30 plus years of that. We pray that this remains a good fit and that we can now find a full time job for him, and a very part time job for me. YAH!! 

He graduated from the program with a 4.0 GPA!! What a stud!

Our graduate that we are so proud of!!

So excited of my Hubby!

Addie was amazing! She had a cold and everything! But she was still smiley, happy, and such an angel. I was a little nervous being by myself with her, in the bleachers, and trying to get photos as well. I couldn't have asked for a better evening.

Joe with his classmates. They all had Radiation Warning sign on their caps. It made it easy to point them out.

They were the last group to be called, but he finally got his diploma!!

Walking out with a huge smile of relief.

Proud of Daddy!! She went through a total of 14 months of this program too! I really wanted a graduation outfit for her, but there were done to be found...

She is so tired, what a sweetie!

He also took his National Registry test the following Monday May 19th, and he passed!! He got an 85! So job well done! It's a hard test, (having taken it myself) and a few of the prior class didn't pass, so he studied really hard. Congratulations Joseph Johnson, RT (R) (ARRT), his official signature!

Miss Silky

So we have heard a lot of people caution us about having a cat when Addie was born. And although I admit I have heard of the same old wive's tales, I researched it out. And there are no worries about us. She is fantastic with Addie and Addie loves feeling her fur. Most of the time she also gets a handful of hair pulled out too. And Silky doesn't flench. However, I do admit we have talked about giving her to Joe's brother Phil just because she is always meowing. It drives us nuts and getting after her only increases the loudness. Phil's cat just died of what I think was breast cancer. Poor little thing, so Phil is lonely now and I think would adore her. 

But then there are times that Silky just wins me over and I can't imagine her not being there....

Addie is around 2 mos here. This picture cracks me up. Addie was having fun with Silky smelling her face, tickling her with her whiskers. She would shriek and squeal with delight.

Silky LOVES laying on blankets or towels. And if she can, she will get inside them too. Can you see her peeking out?

This is a recent picture of Addie 5 mos with Silky demanding attention too. 

And this was taken our first night from the hospital after Addie was born. And there is Silky, always wanting to be close. She was gentle with Addie from the beginning.

Wicked!!

Joe surprised me with Wicked tickets, and you can imagine how excited I was!! He got a crazy good deal. We noticed the people one row in front of us paid twice as much!! I have been waiting for 10 years to see this play. I tried to see it when it came to Salt Lake quite a few years ago, but they were sold out. And then it was in Boise and the timing was so off....So finally!! The stars aligned for us to go to Boise to see it ;0)

We took Addie to see her Grandma Sally and Uncle Phil for the first time. The photos haven't been downloaded yet. But they seemed to really enjoy her, especially Sally. Sally has the most expressive face, next to Joe's, that I have ever seen. Addie immediately erupted into smiles.  I think she is a big fan. 

Lucky for us, they were willing to watch Addie while Joe and I went on our first official date since we had Addie. It was so nice to be together. We missed Addie, but we are used to being away from her all day when we work that we weren't panicking every hour. And this gave them more time to bond.

Us anticipating the start of the play. This is the dragon.

Here is the map of OZ. 

The play was fantastic. We both enjoyed it a lot. I have to say that Glinda stole the show! She was hillarious and had a such a great voice. We also enjoyed Elphaba too, but I was shocked to love Glinda more.

Thank you, Joe, for this wonderful time!! Love you tons and tons!

Visiting Grandma Sally and Uncle Phil

We were finally able to go to Nampa and visit Addie's Grandma Sally and Uncle Phil. Now she has met all of her immediate family! She did really well, and really got some laughs with Grandma.They all say she has a lot of Grandpa Chucky in her (Sally's Dad). 

I believe this was Phil's first time holding a baby. He did so great!!

Grandma Sally has a bad back, but that didn't stop her playing with Addie.

Practicing "Raspberries" with Grandma.

They baby sat Addie while Mom and Dad went on a date to see the Broadway Play "Wicked"!

Easter Time!!

Easter was on April 20th and we decided to go to Arimo for the weekend. That Saturday was my brother Kevin's birthday and we thought it would be fun to see the family. With Joe's graduation coming closer and hoping that we will find a full time job for him, we might be ending up moving further than desired. So we are making the most of these days and hope we might be surprised to stay close!

We enjoyed being with Rachel and Kevin's family and Mom and Dad. They are always so fun and excited to see us. We get pretty spoiled there.We joined them in the community Egg Hunt. It was a beautiful day, but a little bit windy. Addie and I decided to leave early and take a walk home. Boy, she is getting really big! It was a fun day. Rachel made an AMAZING Nutella frosting with chocolate drizzles cake for Kevin, YUMMY!! Kevin treated us all to homemade grilled steak, onions, mushrooms, peppers, cheese....yummy Philadelphia subs, so delicious.

Easter time arrived and the Easter Bunny paid us a visit. All of the kids were excited about the toys and candy, especially to hunt for their baskets and the egg hunt. I also made her an Easter Dress, headband and diaper cover. It's been fun figuring out this outfit and putting it together. She doesn't like headbands very much though.We have some pictures of Addie with her Easter bunny basket, bunny ears, and a toy cow (so cute).  However, I haven't downloaded them yet.

We went to church that morning, and then enjoyed the Easter fun afterwards. Grandma and Grandpa Neibaur came for Easter Dinner. It was so nice to see them again, and this was their first time to see Adaline. Grandma is pretty excited about Addie being named after her Great Grandmother (Adaline) and Mother (Mabel). After dinner we read the "12 days of Easter" each taking turns reading the scriptures and sharing the object in the egg. Afterwards, Grandpa shared his testimony and Kevin did as well. It was a wonderful experience and just made Easter perfect.

Four Generation Neibaur picture.

Back Row: Mom, Joe and Me
Front Row: Grandpa, Grandma, and Addie

Adaline is four months old now. She is just so much fun and full of smiles and giggles. Seriously, I don't know if I have ever met such a smiling baby. We always get comments about it and Betty who is our daycare lady says she is always happy and never has a bad day. She loves to watch her.

Addie coloring Easter Eggs with her cousins.

Sunday, Addie with her Easter Basket and Sunday Dress made by Mommy.

And we had to put on the bunny ears.

She is so cute! She really likes to be on her tummy now.

Her Stats:

• Height: 26 in 94th percentile
• Weight: 17 lbs 2 oz 98th percentile

She had her 4 month vaccinations. Once again, she handled them like a champ! This time I had Joe with me. He helped out with the shots while I talked with Dr Lyons about ultrasound questions. He said she kind of noticed the first shot, got a perplexed look with the second. And then the third shot she finally started to cry. But he picked her up and she stopped immediately. I came in the room and she started to smile. She is one tough cookie!!

Milestones:

• She is rolling around all of the time. But she hasn't really traveled far. She just goes back and forth in one spot, which is plenty enough distance for me right now ;0)
• She has increased her appetite. It seems like she eats around 32 oz a day. 
• She has less fussy days. I am not sure if that's because we are able to read her signs/cries better. Or if it's because she is in daycare 3 days a week. But she is AMAZING! "knock on wood", but she hasn't waken up in the middle of the night for 4 weeks now...WOW!!

Addie has really started to enjoy tummy time. She rolls from her back to her tummy, and then the next minute she is back to her back. She is always surprising us what position she will be in next. She is also really enjoying looking at details, such as the inside of a rattle, or touching the textures of her blankets.

She has started to enjoy her hands and feet more. I LOVE her feet....

Cute lil' piggies.

This cute outfit was given by my Aunt Betty Jo. I thought it was so cute! 

We went to Twin Falls with Joe for his classes. We have been doing that since Addie was 2 months old. She does so well. This picture is at Costco, with my wrap to hold Addie. She is getting too big now. It barely holds her in.

We went swimming for the first time April 12th. We went to Americinn and enjoyed their pools. I think she had fun. She relaxes a lot in the water and just likes to "chill".This robe and slippers were given by Mark Johnson.

Her new swimsuit!! We have a Steve Hebdon reunion planned for this July at Bear Lake....We are so excited!! It might be a nightmare with the sand and a 7 month old, but for now we are excited!!

And Addie is excited too!

Swimming Time!!

We decided to enjoy a weekend and go swimming! Joe and I love to swim, and so we have missed it a lot. We were able to go to the Amerinn here in Hailey. I think that she enjoyed it. She just relaxed and sat in the water. She has never splashed, but she also doesn't cry during bath time either. So, hopefully when she gets a little bit older she will play more. 

We put her in the swimming pool first, which was pretty mild in temperature. We then held her in the shower so she could get used to the warmer water in the hot pools. Once again, she just chilled there too. We just dipped her in it once in a while, not wanting her to get too hot. We had a lot of fun and we will see if we have a water baby!